courtesy of: Aruba-Daily News
Work was started on a spectacular new building for Super Food supermarket on the corner of Bubali road and Sasaki highway. If all goes according to plan, the opening will take place in July 2012.
Super Food’s history was started ten years ago with an idea by Jack Bult. At the time, he had been on the island for a good ten years working for various supermarkets. At the end of 2002 he decided, along with some very enthusiastic colleagues, to start Super Food. The result has been a great success and after ten years, the current building has proven to be too small to accommodate all this enthusiasm. It was time for a new building and the choice was made to take an environmentally conscious approach. The final result will be Aruba’s greenest and most environmentally-friendly supermarket.
The strategy used is very simple. A large roof will be constructed that will cast a shade over the supermarket that will be built underneath. The top roof will be fitted with solar collectors to supply hot water to the building. The area between the top roof and the roof of the supermarket will be cooled naturally by the wind that passes through it, carrying away the sun’s heat. Horizontal wind turbines may also be placed here. With the use of these systems, the builders expect an energy consumption reduction of at least 65%!
But that’s not all. Every detail has been considered to save energy. Condensation water is collected in a big reservoir under the building and is used for the sprinkler system in case of a fire, to flush toilets and for the landscaping. Office lights will automatically turn on and off when people walk in or out of them.
The goal of Jack Bult and his colleagues is actually very clear. They want to offer a larger assortment of products in an energy-saving environment. The savings in energy costs will be passed on to the customers by offering lower product prices. The new supermarket will be more accessible and have more parking spaces, offering a more complete and pleasant shopping experience. On both sides of the supermarket, there will be separate smaller stores. Some of the stores will include a seafood store, a bank, a pharmacy and a lunchroom. The supermarket will have the staple fruit and vegetable department, a butcher’s shop and a bakery. The enthusiastic people from Super Food have one goal in mind; they don’t want to be the largest, but they do want to be the best!
